Riveting-machine



(No Model.)

- A. M. BAIRD.

RIVETING MACHINE.

No 556,657. Patented Mar. 1'7, 1896.

jzdmr fimAze/yflm'mz,

DREW EGRAHAM.PflO'TO-UTUQWAMIINGTOMQC.

UNITED STATES PATENT @EETCE.

ARCHIE 1L BAIRD, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

RlVETlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,657, dated March 17, 1896.

Application filed October 13,1894. Serial No. 525,793. No model.)

To (10 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARCHIE M. BAIRD, of Topeka, Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Riveting-\Iachines, of which the following is a specification.

M y invention relates particularly to riveting-machines which are operated by means of steam, pneumatic or hydraulic pressure, and especially to machines for use in riveting bridge and 'boiler structures, where the necessity for a compact riveting-machine exists.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical, and efiieient riveting-machine; and the invention consists in the features and combinations hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section; Fig. 2, a front elevation of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a front elevation of a portion of the mechanism hereinafter described.

In riveting it is well known that the plates to be riveted are of various thicknesses, and that the rivets which are to be headed are not of a uniform length, but vary considerably so much so that in order to obtain the maximum efficiency the plunger or heading-tool has to be made adjustable in such a manner that the full force of the motor or source of energy may be obtained. Various rivetingmachines have been designed which are generally provided with toggle-lever mechanism connecting the motor-cylinder with the rivetheader, which, it is well known, only attain their maximum efficiency as the levers approach a straight line, so that these togglelever rivetcrs are only efficient within a very small range unless means he provided for changing the length or position of the piston or plunger that does the heading. This cannot be done economically or efficiently until after rivet has been inserted and the plates put in the machine. To overcome these objections and provide a simple and economical rivetingmachine that will always obtain its average maximum efficiency at any position of the plunger or with any length of the rivet is the principal object of my invention.

In constructing my improved riveting-machine I make a bifurcated C-shaped frame A of the desired size and provided with a projecting anvil portion B, which has preferably a recess b, in which the head of a rivet may rest. Secured in suitable bearings in one portion, preferably the upper portion, of the frame, and at one of its ends, is a plunger D, which at its lower end is provided with a header E, made of hardened steel or any other desired material, and which is removably secured in an opening in the lower acting end of the plunger by means of a set-screw 6, so that it may be removed at any time when it is worn out or broken and a new one inserted.

To actuate the plunger and head rivets of various lengths economically and efficiently, I pivot an angular lever G to the upper portion of the frame adjacent to-the plunger. The plunger is bifurcated, as at (Z, and the short arm 9 of the lever inserted therein, while the upper portion of the bifurcated end is provided with a pin g, so that as the angular lever vibrates in one direction its thrust is communicated directly to the solid portion of the plunger, which forces the plunger down, while during an opposite vibration the lever strikes the pin g and raises the plunger. To vibrate the angular lever and by it actuate the plunger, I secure to a platform II on the upper curved portion of the frame a cylinder I, which .is provided with two reciprocating pistons I 1 secured tandem fashion to a single piston-rod J. The cylinder is provided with a partition I intermediate the reciprocating pistons, so asto provide two piston-chambers in which the pistons may reciprocate independent of each other. Steam is admitted by means of a pipe 6 and port t" to the chambers in the rear of the reciprocating pistons, while a spiral spring iiof the desired size and strength,is inserted between the front piston and the front piston-head to retract the piston and rod and hold the mechanism in a normal open position.

The front portion of the piston-rod, as atj, is bifurcated, so as to admit the long arm of the angular lever and have the solid portion of such piston impinge against the lever, so that the direct forward thrust of the pistonrod is communicated solidly and positively to the lever. A pin or rivet closes the front end of the bifurcated piston-rod and vibrates the angular lever backward as the pistoirrod is retracted. W'hen the machine is used as a portable tool it may be suspended from the center of gravity, or it may be used as a fixed tool by securing the frame to a proper bed portion.

In using my improvement it will be noticed that the maximum efficiency of the power applied to the piston is transmitted through the angular lever to the plunger at any position in which the plunger may be, so that a rivet is headed as efficiently when the plunger is raised to its extreme outer limit as when it is close together.

The advantages incident to the use of my improvement are that the power is so applied that the fifty tons pressure necessary for riveting can be utilized at any point of the stroke, thereby obviating the necessity heretofore existing of adjusting the plunger or header for different thicknesses of plates and lengths of rivets. By my invention,therefore, greater economy is obtained, as the full speed of the machine may be used and no stoppage is necessary.

I claim In a portable riveting-machine, the combination of a bifurcated frame, a reciprocating plunger mounted at or near one end of the frame having one end provided with an axial opening to receive a header and its opposite extending end bifurcated to receive an actuating-lever, a two-armed actuating angular lever pivoted to the frame portion adjacent to the plunger and provided with arms of unequal length, the short arm entering the bifurcation of the riveting-plunger and the other long arm contacting the operating mechanism,a cylinder secured to the frame and provided with at least two fluid-pressure chambers, a movable piston in each pressure-chamber secured in line With each other to a single piston-rod, and a piston-rod connected With the piston-heads and having its extending end bifurcated to receive one arm of the actuating-lever, and pins closing the bifurcated ends of the reciprocating plunger and piston-rod to contact the vibrating lever and assist in the operation of the parts, substantially as described.

ARCHIE M. BAIRD. Vitnesses:

GEORGE W. SMITH, THOMAS F. SHERIDAN. 

